Primary Menu

Day -1: Dear Donor.

Quite a few things have happened in the past two days. First off, I’ve finally staved off a narsty fever that had me in bed for quite some time. I feel completely normal and back at it! I even finished my taxes this morning! 🙂

The doctors are still confirming that it’s not due to an infection (respiratory virus or anything in the blood/urine). I’m not a medical professional, but I think it’s prolly due to all the chemo I just endured. I’m just sayin. One of the joys (or not) of being under review is that I’m in quarantine. This basically means I can’t leave my room, people have to wear masks when they come in which leads to mass paranoia and avoidance of meeeee! It’s really not that bad. But I know the cultures will come back negative. I digress.

I’m just getting a saline drip now since today is day-1, my rest day. Everything I’m taking now are pills. Alllll of the pills. Pills for pain, pills for headaches, pills for bowel movements, pills for nausea, pills. So. many. pills.

I’ve gotten some pretty sweet gifts too from friends both in and out of town (not all shown here, cos, you know, it’s silly to show gift cards). I really have some of the best, most thoughtful friends ever. ❤

I’m very thrilled to say that I’m able to contact my bone marrow donor and send him messages through the registry! I sent a letter to him not long ago which I’ve attached below. I hope he responds to me, but if not that’s cool. I’ll keep bugging him though 🙂 I really hope to meet him one day. I imagine he’s a Korean American guy, much like myself but older and more mature, with more things figured out. But who knows if that’s true. I digress again…

Dear Donor,

Hi. As I write this, I imagine you’re already donating/have donated your marrow. I’m really struggling to hold back the tears as I think of your sacrifice and your selfless commitment to helping me, a random stranger, get better. There aren’t enough words in any language that could express how grateful I am for you. Thank you. Thank you so very, very much.

When I was diagnosed last fall with aplastic anemia, I really didn’t know what to expect. It’s a rare hematological condition where your body stops making enough red and white blood cells to support efficient oxygen exchange and immune response, and a bone marrow transplant is a curative treatment for it. Initially I was in denial about the whole thing, with the prospect of a transplant being something on the far horizon, but as time progressed and my doctors pushed for a better treatment plan, the transplant became imminent.

And with that we searched the registry. In less than three weeks, we found you. (We also found me as a match because I had registered in college, but that was just a funny coincidence). What great fortune, what sheer luck that the universe would find someone in the world with a perfect 10/10-HLA type match as me, and in such a short period of time? It’s amazing how things work out that way.

I’m not a very religious person anymore, but my parents believe it’s God’s blessing upon me that brings me such fortune and care in this world. My mother is incredibly grateful for you too. She prays for your health, well being, and success in this world, daily, as do members of my home church. I hope that’s okay.

One day in the near future, I hope to be able to meet you to say thank you in person. But for now I hope this suffices. Anyway, I won’t babble on and on; I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for this second chance at life to be able to do the things I love to do, and to share more time with the people I love. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see more sunsets and sunrises, to eat tasty pastries and try new cuisines (I’m a bit of a foodie), to sing with my friends as we blast songs on the radio, to see my nephew grow up to be the strong young man I know he’ll be, to hopefully walk down the aisle announcing my commitment to my future partner and to raise kids myself one day. Thank you.

Like this:

Related

Post navigation

One thought on “Day -1: Dear Donor.”

Min, such a beautiful letter to your donor. It really moved me; and I am also really happy that this donor was generous enough to donate, and you were able to find him. I’m glad you got a bunch of other, more “ordinary” gifts, too – you really deserve them! All the best.